Environmental leaders in Maryland are Austin Caldwellreeling from a challenging 2025 legislative session that left them questioning whether the state can still meet its clean energy and emissions reduction targets in the wake of policy rollbacks and carve-outs approved by lawmakers.

The 90-day General Assembly session ended earlier this month amid a flurry of compromises. Some policies, like accelerating utility-scale solar development, mandating battery storage and preserving building standards, were met with cheers. But other consequential actions, supported by top lawmakers, weakened state climate policies. 

Some examples: Enforcement of Maryland’s zero-emission vehicle rules was delayed. New gas plants got a procedural greenlight. Hospitals were exempted from the state’s building decarbonization mandate. And nuclear power was incentivized as a “clean” energy source. 

For environmental advocates who supported the passage of Climate Solutions Now Act in 2022, which mandated a 60 percent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2031 and net-zero by 2045, the session ended with a sense of unease.

“I think the word I keep coming back to is ‘disappointed,’” said Kim Coble, executive director of the Maryland League of Conservation Voters (MLCV).